Wednesday, June 24, 2009

When we hear of tragedy in the world of sports, so often it is because something has happened to one of the "larger than life" sports figures that everyone knows. Today, it's closer to home.

This morning, the head football coach at Aplington-Parkersburg (Iowa) High School was shot and killed by a former player in the high school weight room, allegedly in front of about 50 students. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31525308/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/ It's close to home because I grew up in Riceville, Iowa, a town of about 800 people, similar to Parkersburg, in that it is a small, rural, Iowa town. It's close to home because it's an innocent place where things like this just aren't supposed to happen.

Why do these senseless things happen? It appears as though this former player was mentally ill, as you can read in the article. I'm not even going to ATTEMPT to express my thoughts on why - I'm sure I would offend some, and I'd likely do an injustice to this coach by trying to put it into my own humble words.

Nonetheless, I am deeply saddened.

The lives of many have been deeply affected today - and for what? What was the motive? Those of us who are not there could speculate forever, but it won't do anyone any good.

As I write this I reflect on the things written about this coach - about the former players who are now playing in the NFL.

About remembering while I was going to school in Iowa - what a traditional powerhouse A-P was in football.

About the coaches who have impacted my life.

About coming home from basketball practice in high school cursing my coaches and swearing I was going to quit......but I never did.

I never quit because that's what I was taught - by my parents AND my coaches. And realizing once I got into my career that it was those experiences that taught me the most.

The times I thought I was going to pass out if I ran one more line drill.

The times I thought I was going to quit because I was the "only one" who got yelled at.

The times I thought that the only thing that mattered was ME, not the TEAM.

The times I wondered why in the heck we were doing those stupid fundamental drills all the time in practice, rather than just "scrimmaging."

The times I swore if one more time I heard the words "discipline" or "committment" or "Together Each Achieves More" and thought about how cheesy all that stuff was, I was going to puke.

The times I thought that my coaches were just on a power trip and wanted to see how much pain they could inflict through the conditioning and mental toughness drills.

Then I think about the time that we pulled off the hugest upset in Iowa High School girls basketball - beating Ventura and Lynn Lorenzen, to get to the State Tournament for the first time in school history - it all started to sink in and make sense.

The coaches who pushed and pushed and demanded and yelled and criticized.......they became your biggest fan.

They taught you the things that ironically you're using every day of your life in your job, and with your significant other, and with your kids.

And the things that helped you form a stronger relationship with your parents because you understand the sacrifices that not only mom and dad, but your coaches made for you.

You understand all the time and energy they put into helping you become successful.

You understand that to you it was just a game, but to your coaches, it was what put a roof over their heads and food on their table. It wasn't your life, but it was "life and death" to your coaches.

You understand that they aren't coaches for a living, but for loving, because they barely get paid enough to put that food on their table.

All those things they taught you about

being on timecontributing to a cause greater than yourselfbeing a part of a "second family"being a team playermanaging your timestudying hard so you could continue to playshowing empathy for a down teammatebecoming a leaderperforming when the pressure was onwinning AND losing with classrespecting all but fearing none.

This post isn't about me - it's about the impact that coaches always have, and always will, make on the lives of the young people they come into contact with. In the case of Coach Thomas, not only did he impact the lives of those young people, but from what I've read today, he also impacted an entire community. From what I've read today, he understood and lived by the value of community - at a time when the community was ripped apart by mother nature, he understood that the community needed to heal. And football was more than just a game played on Friday night under the lights beneath the Iowa sky - it was something that helped a community come together to rebuild and heal.

Monday, June 22, 2009

I was reminded yesterday by my buddy, Sean, who helps out with a local softball program, that I need to post more often - so this one's for you Sean!

I know it's been a really long time since I've posted and I don't have any excuses. May just slipped away, and so far, June has as well. I was actually amazed at how long May seemed, but now I feel that June is flying by.

Lots of recruiting going on this summer - attending many tournaments in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

I've also taken to a little woodworking - I'm constructing bean bag boards, otherwise known as "Cornhole Boards". I learned that they are called Cornhole boards because the bags are filled with corn. Anyway, I constructed my first set last week and now they are sitting in the garage waiting for the sander and some paint and lacquer. I'm excited to finish them, but have to make some time to do it. The plan is to customize them so they are unique - and then use them on vacation the week after July 4th. :)

I'm also enjoying spending time with my dad on the river, area lakes, etc., in his fishing boat. The fishing hasn't been very good, and I'm not picky - I'll catch anything that will bite. But they don't seem to be biting much when I'm out there. I hear all kinds of stories, but the stories don't hold up when it's MY line in the water. I must be doing something wrong - or as one guy in a bait shop told me the other day "I'm trying too hard." I must say that I've learned a lot about fishing this summer because I insist that if you have the right "bait presentation" (one term I've learned) then you should catch fish, regardless. But I haven't got it down yet. I DID actually catch a couple fish last Friday night on the Chippewa River down by the dam just north of downtown - a big ugly catfish and a sheephead - and like I said, I don't care what I catch...... one of the poles I use is an Ultralight Ugly Stick with 4 pound test line - I thought for sure that I'd lose the catfish - you should have seen that pole bend! But I got him in despite the wimpy pole. Dad threatened to throw my medium-action rod in the river if I caught another fish with my ultralight - I might actually let him do it if that little pole keeps catching fish!

Well, I better move on with my day, but I wanted to give Sean something to read today, so I needed to do this post. I'll try harder to keep things updated, Sean!